Bacteria

ARTICLES ABOUT BACTERIA BY DATE - PAGE 3

Well, it sure seemed like a great thing when hands free faucets were invented for public restrooms. With no surfaces for anyone to touch, the restrooms would be less messy and people would spread fewer germs. Except that doesn't seem to be the way it's working out. When Johns Hopkins Hospital recently looked at hands free faucets and regular old-fashioned ones, they found that the hands free ones were breeding a significantly higher level of hazardous bacteria. The problem might center on the design of the faucets.

If you are conscious enough about the environment to use reusable shopping bags consistently, I'd like to take a moment to commend you. Now, let me ask you a question: When was the last time you washed your reusable bags? If you don't remember, you are not alone. A study by the University of Arizona shows that 97 percent of shoppers do not bleach or wash their reusable shopping bags on a regular basis. Your bags could be filled with bacteria. This observation is not only supported by the study but also by common sense.

It happened again over the weekend. My son was at a Halloween party and dropped a piece of candy on the floor. Swooping like a hawk he dove for it before I could grab it. Giving it a perfunctory blow he popped it in his mouth. I don't eat food off the floor but I've come to grudgingly accept that my son will. He always invokes the "five second rule. " And it doesn't seem to have hurt him. In fact, he's very healthy and seems to avoid many of the colds and other ailments that o around his school.

HAZLETON, Pa. (AP) — Officials have lifted a boil water advisory covering about 15,000 homes and businesses in Hazleton. The Hazleton City Authority lifted the advisory Monday morning. On Saturday, Officials had asked customers to boil water after a worrisome bacteria was discovered in the water supply. Authority manager Randy Cahalan told the Hazleton Standard-Speaker the bacteria may have made it into the system during maintanence work last week.

For the Bushkill Creek, the situation has gone from bad to worse. Recent water tests show that fecal contaminants have nearly doubled in stretches of the stream since the summer, when they were already well over acceptable maximums. According to state Department of Environmental Protection guidelines, much of the creek isn't safe to swim in. In Easton, levels of fecal coliform — rod-shaped bacteria that flourish in waste and can indicate the presence of more dangerous pathogens — are 10 times the legal limit for swimming.

Johnson & Johnson subsidiary McNeil Consumer Healthcare voluntarily shut down the Fort Washington, Montgomery County, plant where it produces Children's Tylenol and dozens of other recalled over-the-counter medications in response to an FDA report that said raw ingredients contaminated with bacteria had been used in some of the infants' and children's products. The Food and Drug Administration said it had so far found no evidence of bacteria in any finished products it tested. At a news conference Tuesday afternoon, agency officials said they considered harm to children unlikely from the microorganisms or from previously identified problems with the medications, including inconsistencies in product potency and other contaminants.

South Whitehall Township officials issued a boil-water notice Friday, advising residents to boil all drinking water or use bottled water until further notice. Water tests Thursday revealed unsafe levels of E. coli bacteria in the supply, officials said. Before using tap water for drinking, making ice, brushing teeth or washing dishes, residents should boil the water one minute before allowing it to cool for consumption, they said. Bacterial contamination can occur when increased run-off enters the water system, or from line breaks or problems with the treatment process, officials said.

A contracted worker at Lehigh University has come down with Legionnaires' disease, presumably after coming in contact with bacteria in a heating, ventilation and air-conditioning unit at the University Center, officials said. Tests on Saturday confirmed the presence of Legionella bacteria in one HVAC unit on campus and also confirmed that the worker, whose identity was not released, has Legionnaires' disease, a type of pneumonia, said Lehigh spokeswoman Jennifer Tucker. Tucker said environmental health professionals and infectious disease experts were consulted and believe the case is isolated.

Drinking water for thousands of South Whitehall residents violated legal standards for bacteria earlier this month, forcing a public notification even though officials say the condition won't harm public health. "This is not an emergency," reads part of the public notice, which ran in an area newspaper this week. The notice goes on to say that people do not need to do anything, such as boil water, but suggests people with "specific health concerns" could call their primary care physicians.